Zune Marketplace grabs over 400 more episodes

Microsoft will be adding more shows from Comedy Central, NBC Universal, and …

Microsoft has decided that stealing NBC away from Apple's iTunes earlier this month isn't enough for the Zune Marketplace. The company today announced that it would be expanding its video store by 50 percent: more than 400 new episodes of television shows, still to be sold for 160 Microsoft Points ($2 apiece), will be added slowly throughout this and next month.

More programs will be arriving from networks Microsoft already has episodes from: Comedy Central, NBC Universal, and the SCI FI Channel. The company also brought on USA Network, owned by NBC Universal, and episodes will be coming from it on June 6, 2008. Finally, shows from Bravo, a cable television network owned by NBC as well, will be added "in the coming months." The schedule for the rollout is as follows:

It appears that these dates work perfectly with Microsoft's launch of the Zune in Canada on June 13, 2008. However, the company has already stated previously that Canadians will not be getting an online store—at least not at launch.